BOARD MEETING DATE: September 8, 2006
AGENDA NO. 36

AGENDA NO. 36

California Fuel Cell Partnership Steering Team Report and
Quarterly Activity Report

This item has been amended to provide some additional information from the meeting. 

REPORT:

California Fuel Cell Partnership Steering Team Report and Quarterly Activity Report

SYNOPSIS:

On May 5, 2006, the Board approved the proposal to renew membership in the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP) for 2006 and requested that the CaFCP provide detailed quarterly reports on CaFCP activities to the Governing Board in a format similar to the Monthly Public Affairs Report.  This report summarizes the California Fuel Cell Partnership Steering Team meeting held July 18-19, 2006 and provides an activity report for April through June, 2006.

COMMITTEE:

Technology, July 28, 2006

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:

Receive and file the attached report.

Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta
AQMD Representative to CaFCP
CaFCP Vice Chair

CALIFORNIA FUEL CELL PARTNERSHIP

Summary of Steering Team Meeting
July 18-19, 2006

The Fairmont Waterfront
900 Canada Place Way
Vancouver, BC V6C3L5

SUMMARY OF AGENDA ITEMS

• The Steering Team meeting was chaired by John Brady, Vice President Hydrogen Infrastructure, ChevronTexaco with Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta, Governors’ Appointee, AQMD Governing Board serving as Vice-Chair.
• Progress on achieving 2006 goals was reviewed:
  • Hydrogen fueling station at City of Santa Monica opened.
  • CaFCP, with CARB staff, is visiting hydrogen fueling stations in operation regarding accessibility and environmental aspects.
  • CaFCP is sharing public information on hydrogen station and fleet database with CaFCC and NHA.
  • CaFCP plans to issue an RFP for operation of the station testing apparatus (STA) by the end of July.
  • Safety team reports zero accidents.
  • Road Rally will highlight “Progress in CA,” starting in Torrance, with a Training Workshop for first responders, in cooperation with the State Fire Marshall’s office, on October 6^th, and continuing to the “Festival of Speed” at the San Diego Naval Base, through October 8^th.  A press conference announcement will take place at the Anaheim International Auto Show October 4th.
• Sig Gronich, Technology Validation Manager at the DOE, provided an update on the FreedonCAR Technology Validation demonstration and transition strategies to commercialize fuel cell vehicles.  DOE is integrating technical recommendations and policy implications from the National Academy of Sciences report into their transition strategies.  Federal government is looking at, but doesn’t plan to address state level policies that could encourage or mandate new technologies faster.  DOE has described three production scenarios and has goals identified to enable each scenario.  California, especially the LA area, is a high priority for multiple reasons (e.g., consumer market, ZEV Policy, and existing hydrogen infrastructure)
• Craig Webster, Director of Gas Systems Engineering at PowerTech Labs, provided information about their 700 (10,000 psi) bar tank testing and video comparisons of hydrogen and gasoline behavior.
• Allison Grigg, Canadian Hydrogen Highway, and Shannon Miles, Fuel Cells Canada, provided an update regarding their activities in Canada.
• Mike Gorman, Director of Transportation Products at UTC Power, provided an update showing fuel cell progress toward meeting automotive requirements with the exception of specific power.  Also, UTC is still conducting research and development regarding FC durability.  UTC has gained experience providing fuel cells to Nissan, Hyundai, BMW, Insbus, Thor, and VanHool.
• Charles Stone, Vice President of Research and Development at Ballard, provided a status update showing progress regarding freeze start, durability, power density and cost.  They need to continue demonstrations, as well as further reducing the cost of the FC.
• Steering Team Members provided the following updates.
  • Chris Grundler, Deputy Director for OTA at the US EPA, reported that the APCI station has now been operating very well.  The contract is coming to an end and they are deciding on what to do in the next phase.
  • Robert Brown, Director of VEE for Ford, reported that they are in the process of placing more vehicles in CA and accumulating miles.
  • Bob Sorrell, Vice President of Strategy at BP, indicated that they have four Mobile fuelers in US.  A station at LAX, jointly operating with the CaFCP is next.  Following that will be fueling stations in Detroit, City of Taylor, Sacramento, Florida, and UCLA.  Permitting has been an interesting experience.
  • Tom Cackette, Chief Deputy Executive Officer at CARB, reported the Hydrogen Highway Net’s successful bidders.  An“intent to award” will be offered for stations in San Diego (middle school), CalState LA (Quantum), and San Carlos (PG& E).  The successful bidders for vehicles were also announced.  They are:  Ford (2) H2 ICE shuttles, GM (1) fuel cell vehicle, and Quantum (4) H2 ICEs.  The next funding effort will concentrate on fuel cell buses.
  • Dr. Timothy Klein, Senior Policy Advisor to the Administrator for DOT, reported   that the gap analysis for infrastructure is now posted on their website.
• A strategy discussion was held to discuss potential fuel cell rollout scenarios, including supporting fueling networks, with participants breaking into smaller groups.
• The Steering Team discussed and approved the CaFCP vision post 2007.
• Chris White, CaFCP led a discussion on Environmental Justice and Environmental Group Outreach.
• The Steering Team approved a proposal to extend a safety learnings exchange with Japanese Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Demonstration Project.
• The Steering Team discussed a request from BMW to fuel at CaFCP.  Since they are utilizing liquid fuel they proposed upgrading the fueling station to accommodate this.  There were concerns from some Steering Team members that since BMW is not a member of the CAFCP, they shouldn’t be able to fuel at the CAFCP’s West Sacramento station.  The station owners do not currently allow non-CaFCP members to fuel at this station due to facility safety and liability reasons.  Other ST members felt it was an opportunity to learn more about fueling with liquid Hydrogen.  This discussion will continue at the Planning Committee meeting on September 14^th and may be agendized for the October meeting.
• CAFCP Southern CA Presence:  After much discussion of potential location sites for a CAFCP CA presence, at the May 25^th meeting in Diamond Bar, the consensus was that the South Coast AQMD facility was preferred.  This was due to the fact that it would probably be more cost-effective than locating and building a new site, elsewhere in the Los Angeles basin.  In addition, SCAQMD is the central location of the four counties, with built-in, public walk-in traffic; existing fuel cell vehicles; available meeting rooms and existing square footage that could cost-effectively be reconfigured to accommodate the needs and activities of the CAFCP Steering Team members.  Following a meeting with SCAQMD Executive staff, Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta will convene another meeting with CaFCP members to solidify and prioritize activities which could be coordinated through this new location, as well as to discuss how much space is required.  The goal is to establish an expanded CaFCP presence prior to 2008.

The next CaFCP Steering Team meeting is scheduled for October 24-25 in Sacramento.

Additional information about the California Fuel Cell Partnership can be found at http://www.fuelcellpartnership.org/.

CaFCP Quarterly Update
April 2006 – June 2006

The California Fuel Cell Partnership is a unique collaborative of auto manufacturers, energy companies, fuel cell technology companies, and government agencies; including SCAQMD. This report summarizes CaFCP activity in or related to Southern California for the period April 2006 through June 2006.

In 2006, the CaFCP Steering Team identified four goals to promote the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles:

1. Support vehicle and fuel station placements
2. Enable California fueling network
3. Be a leading source for information
4. Maintain organization and plan for future

The following activities are examples of work toward achieving these goals.

National Science Teachers Convention (AnaheimConvention Center) April 5-8th

CaFCP hosted a trade show booth at the convention of 16,000 K-12 science teachers from around the country. We discussed fuel cell technology and its application to transportation with conference attendees and distributed every piece of literature we brought, including the newly created “How It Works” color booklet.

Alternative Power Exhibit Opening (PetersenAutoMuseum) April 27^th

CaFCP and Ford gave presentations to an audience of about 60 people for the opening of the Petersen Auto Museum six-month exhibit on alternative powered vehicles.

National Fire Protection Agency Convention (OrangeCountyConvention Center, OrlandoFL), June 4-6

NFPA invited us back for a 2^nd year to display a vehicle and discuss CaFCP fire safety activities with fire marshals from Southern California and nationwide. To support member fleets and stations, CaFCP works with the fire community holding workshops on fire prevention and emergency response for hydrogen stations and fuel cell vehicles.

Emergency responder training and fire community outreach is important aspect of the goal to support member fleets and stations.

Corona Auto Extrication and ER Training (100 first responders), April 9th

Made contact with Corona Fire Department at a workshop held in Torrance in 2005. This was at an extrication workshop for firefighters from all over California. CaFCP staff also participated in the weekend training to learn more about other extrication practices.

Vehicle Extrication demonstration by LA CountyFire, May 11^th

This was a first time event for OEMs and LA County Fire. LA County Fire gave a two-hour presentation and vehicle extrication demonstration to open dialogue with OEMs.

CaFCP has several technical programs with teams that meet regularly to work on interoperability issues such as hydrogen quality, fueling systems, station testing and public access. This work helps achieve the goal of enabling a California fueling network. SCAQMD has been very active in the Station Review Team and DemoNet.

Station Review Team (SRT)

The SRT is currently compiling information on hydrogen stations located in California to get a better understanding of public access and how to improve it. The SRT is collecting additional data related refueling and refueling infrastructure to improve access and safety.

DemoNet

DemoNet is an open forum for vehicle station users and operators to share experience and learnings. Some examples of recent useful discussion topics include NFPA 52 code interpretations and the SCAQMD 5 Cities implementation.

Outreach activities and tools show how the CaFCP works towards the goal of being a leading source of information.

Media

• Radio: 20 minute interview on hydrogen fuel cells with Catherine Dunwoody, CaFCP and Jason Mark, UCS on KPFK radio, April 2006.
• Print: A number of publications have featured articles on CaFCP including Riverside Press Enterprise, Santa Monica Daily Press, Florida Today (part of USA Today), Reuters, AP, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post and the New York Times.  
• Television – CaFCP will be featured in upcoming shows on the Discovery Channel and PBS.
• Web casts – Catherine Dunwoody was interviewed for a 5 minute web video featured on MSN Autos during Michelin Challenge Bibendum.

Legislative Outreach

• Assemblymember Bill Emmerson (R-Rancho Cucamonga) briefed, June 13.

Website

• Updated Emergency Responder section on CaFCP website including materials, videos and links.
• Added Teacher Resource section to CaFCP website

Materials

• “How it Works” color booklet explaining hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology; copies are available in the SCAQMD lobby.
   

Second CaFCP South meeting hosted by Toyota, May 4^th

Southern California members have agreed to meet quarterly to discuss issues specific to the region. Station access is the number one goal.

Industry related events

Participation in many industry events (transportation, clean air and technology) including Sierra Club Transportation Committee, Coalition for Clean Air Luncheon, and the California Hydrogen Business Council.

Presidential visit at CaFCP Headquarters, April 22nd

CaFCP Vice-Chair, Cynthia Verdugo-Peralta, was invited to greet President George Bush, DOT Secretary Norm Minetta and Representative John Doolittle, in addition to participating as an audience member for the President’s speech.

Road Rally 2006

The 5^th Annual Road Rally will be held in Southern California again, touring from Los Angeles to San Diego October 4 - 8. More updates for schedule and events coming soon!